


Super Lads, Justice Crusaders!

by catboysam



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Boy AU, Magical Boys, Near Death Experiences, Platonic Cuddling, Rating Might Change, elemental powers, more tags to be added as it goes on, so much cuddling, summary will probably also change, this might be a slow start but it's gonna be pretty long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 14:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4438979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catboysam/pseuds/catboysam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray, Michael, and Gavin each woke up with elemental powers on their 18th birthdays, and when they decide to use them to fight crime, they become the Super Lads, Justice Crusaders! But being a hero is harder than they think, especially when the bad guys are bigger and badder than anticipated...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happy Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh I'm so nervous I've been planning this story for months (shoutout to Kahnah for helping and encouraging me!!) and I really hope you all enjoy it!!!

Ray woke on his 18th birthday to his blaring alarm. He was about to hit the snooze button when he realized it was, in fact, his 18th birthday.

The lad bolted upright and leaped out of bed. He was 18! Michael and Gavin were both 18 when they got their powers! Surely it was his turn, right? It would only make sense for all three of them to get weird powers for no apparent reason...right?

Ray looked into his mirror and concentrated. Michael had fire, Gavin had wind, so he would probably get some kind of elemental thing too. But what? He raised his fists and gently opened them. No need to accidentally destroy his room by flailing around wildly to activate whatever he had. Instead, he stared at his palms and concentrated harder. Come on…come on…

“Ray!” His mother’s call startled him, causing him to jump a foot into the air. “Ray! Are you getting ready for school?” 

“Yeah, Mom!” the teen called back as he scrambled to grab some clothes. It sucked that his birthday was during this school week this year, but at least it was a Friday. After school he’d be going over to Michael and Gavin’s apartment across town and they’d spend Ray’s birthday weekend eating delicious junk food and playing tons of video games. Perfect. 

Thankfully, the high school was only a few blocks away, and since he’d gotten up on time for once, he could walk and not run. Ray sighed. He missed having Michael and Gavin at school. They had both already graduated and while he had a few other friends at school, they weren’t his best friends from childhood. But this was his senior year, so in just a few months he would graduate and be free to move in with the two.

Ray was so lost in his thoughts of educational freedom that he almost didn’t notice a car lose control and hurtle right toward him. He wanted to run, dodge, move somehow, but his feet felt stuck. Time felt like it was moving slowly as he watched the car get closer and closer, and wasn’t that cliche. Closing his eyes, Ray threw up his hands in a futile attempt to protect himself and waited for his totally freaking ironic death on his birthday.

Suddenly a huge CRACK! was heard as the ground parted in front of him and a large pillar of earth rose up, stopping the car several feet in front of him. The driver seemed unhurt, thankfully, as the man climbed out of the vehicle and yelled, “What the hell! Kid, did you do that?”

Ray ran.

  


* * *

 

It was only another block to the high school, and with the extra time running gave him, Ray had enough time to find the nearest bathroom, lock himself in a stall, and call Michael. It was early enough that his best friend would probably still be at home and able to answer his cellphone.

After a few rings, a rough voice murmured, “Hello?”

“Michael? Are you still asleep?” Ray asked, eyebrows furrowing. “I thought you were getting ready for work.”

Michael cleared his throat and replied, “No, I took off so Gav and I could pick you up at lunchtime and ditch school, dude. Happy Birthday, by the way.” 

Shit, right. “Michael, I think I got my power! This car was gonna hit me, and I threw up my hands, and like a huge thing-”

“Whoa, whoa!” Michael sounded very awake now. “You got hit by a car?!” 

“No, man! Listen! When I raised my hands, this like, column of dirt and rocks shielded me! It was fucking scary but holy shit, dude! I think I got powers too!”

Across town, Michael was throwing off the covers and walking to the other bed to shake Gavin awake. “Ray, do you need me to come pick you up now? I can give the school a good excuse since they won’t take ‘almost hit’.”

Ray leaned against the stall wall. “No, I’ll be fine. I’m just shaking a little. I’m fine. See you at lunch, okay?”  
  
“Alright, alright,” huffed the elder lad unhappily. “But call me if you need me, okay?”

“Of course.”

“See ya.”

Ray ended the call and exhaled shakily. He almost got hit by a car. Fuck. He had some kind of weird earth powers. Sweet, but also, fuck.

Sighing, he shoved his phone in his pocket and stepped out of the stall. His reflection in the large restroom mirror looked like crap. He should have taken Michael’s offer.

The bell rang the ten-minute warning and Ray grabbed his bag. Too late now.

 

* * *

 

Gavin grumbled as Michael roughly shook him. He rolled over and covered his head with a pillow, missing the end of the phone conversation. 

“Gavin!” Michael shook the younger man harder. “Gav! Wake the fuck up!”

Blinking, Gavin uncovered his head and blearily gazed up at his friend, messy hair flattened by the pillow. “Mm, what is it, boi? You’ve interrupted my lovely dream…”

“Ray’s got powers too. He found out by almost getting hit by a fucking car.”

The younger man sat up instantly, eyes wide. “What?! Where is he now? Is he alright?”

“He was freaking out, but he says he’s fine. Doesn’t want me to pick him up from school until later.” Michael glared at his phone sullenly.

“Really? Are you going to get him anyway?" 

“No, why?”

“Because you’re all scowly, Michael. I know that look.”

“Shut up. Ray said he’ll be ok, and I don’t fuckin’ like it, but I trust him to call me if he needs me.”

“If he needs you. Right.” Sighing, Gavin flopped back onto his mattress. “Well if that’s that, let’s have breakfast. You may have today off but I need to turn in those photos before we go pick Ray up.”

 

* * *

 

Ray made it to homeroom before the bell rang and tuned out the chatter of his classmates. He was regretting not having Michael pick him up even more every second. Shoving his hands in his lap to hide their shaking, he took a few deep breaths. He hadn’t been hit. All he needed to do was make it through math and English and then he could leave. He was going to be fine. 

The bell’s shrill ring startled him, and Ray looked up to see his homeroom teacher picking up her list to take roll call. The clock above her desk read 8:01.

Ray slumped in his chair. Great. Good. Three and a half hours to go.

 

* * *

 

After suffering through algebra and analysis of Romeo and Juliet, the lunch bell rang and Ray stopped at his locker before following a crowd of students on their way to the cafeteria. When they passed the front door, he casually separated from the group and left the building, looking around for Michael’s car in the parking lot.

 “X-Ray!” Turning in the direction of the call, Ray saw Gavin waving out the passenger door of Michael’s ride.

“Hey, Vav!” the teen shouted back as he jogged toward his friends. He hopped into the car behind Gavin, tossed his backpack to the side, and buckled his seatbelt. “Let’s go already!” 

Michael turned around in the driver’s seat to look at him. His face was serious in a way it rarely was. “Hey. You doin’ alright?”

Ray half-smiled and nodded slightly. “Better now, and I’ll be fuckin’ great when we get out of here. Let’s go!”

His friend frowned, but turned back around and started pulling out of the parking lot.

“Ray! We haven’t shown you the new setup at the apartment, have we?” Gavin bounced in his seat, looking at Ray in the rear-view mirror. “I think you’ll like it!”

Michael grinned, the mood lightening. “As long as you don’t call it that stupid-ass name you came up with, Gav.”

“Michael! It’s not stupid!”

“What stupid name?” Ray asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not telling until we get there, X-Ray! It’s a surprise! And not stupid!”

The rest of the ride was familiar. The three young men chatted and joked, and Ray finally began to relax.

Gavin only got bouncier as they arrived at the apartment building, clinging to Ray’s arm and practically vibrating. “Oh, Ray! You’re going to love it, Ray!”

“What, did you decorate everything in purple or something? Or better yet, brown?” ask Ray, waggling his eyebrows.

“No, ya donut! It’s way better than that!”

“Did you actually clean up for once?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but that’s not it. Have some patience, we’ll be there in a second!”

Ray stuck out his tongue at his friend, who did so right back. Gavin giggled, the elevator dinged as they reached the third floor, and Ray was almost yanked off his feet as Gavin dragged him down the hallway. “Open the door, Michael!”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? Damn, Gav.” Michael unlocked the door, pushing it open for them all to enter. “Alright! Ray-”

“Welcome to the Lad Pad!” Gavin crowed, and then yelped as Michael smacked him in the head.

“Gavin! I told you that name was stupid!” 

“But Michael, it rhymes!”

“Uh, so what did you guys change exactly?” Ray looked around the living room, noting that not much had been altered from his last visit aside from some of the furniture arrangements. 

Both of his friends smiled, each one taking one of his hands. “We’ll show you,” replied Michael as he and Gavin tugged Ray down the hallway.

“In the bedroom? Guys, I’m flattered, but this is not what I expected...”

“Very funny, asshole. Do you want your surprise or not?”

“You tell me!”

“Just look, Ray!” Gavin swung the door open, revealing the redecorated room.

“Double bunkbeds?” asked Ray, giving the other two a confused look.

Gavin nodded, grin as big as ever. “Double bunkbeds!”

“We know it’s too early for you to move in yet, but we didn’t want you to have to keep sleeping on the floor when you come over,” Michael explained. “So we decided to get things set up for you now anyway!”

Ray looked between the two sets of bunkbeds, his face going from confused to grateful to concerned. “I appreciate it, but please tell me I’m not sharing with Gavin.”

Gavin gave a hurt squawk and Michael cackled. “Don’t worry, Ray! You’re with me! Now come on and see your real present from us!”

 “I don’t know, man,” Ray remarked as they pulled him out of the bedroom and into the room he remembered they had been using for storage. “Double bunkbeds are pretty sweet. How are you gonna top...that…”

The little room had been cleaned out and tidied up, and against one of the walls was a desk, a comfy-looking chair, and a computer with a webcam attached to one of the two monitors. A green screen cloth was pinned up on the opposite wall.

Ray’s jaw dropped. “Guys…” 

“Didn’t you say you wanted to try out livestreaming?” Michael asked, a pleased smirk on his face. “Now you can get started!”

“How much did this cost?” 

“That’s not important! What’s important is that you love it!” Gavin tilted his head and leaned against the youngest boy. “You do love it, right X-Ray?”

Ray nodded, tugging his hands out of Michael and Gavin’s and stepping toward the setup. “Yeah, I do...Guys, can you give me a second?” His voice trembled, and the other two glanced at each other, concerned.

“Ray, are you alright?” Gavin asked, touching Ray’s shoulder.

“I just...you guys didn’t have to do this. This stuff must have cost a ton!”

Michael and Gavin’s faces softened, and they immediately pulled Ray into a group hug.

“Don’t worry about money, X-Ray,” Gavin whispered, pressing his face into Ray’s neck. “We just wanted to make you happy.”

“Besides, you’re not the boss of us!” Michael retorted, giving Ray a light squeeze. “You’re our best friend, so we’ll buy you stuff if we want.”

Ray snorted, then sniffed. “Seriously, thank you, guys. I really do love it.”

After a few moments, Michael gently pushed away. “Okay, now let’s get to the birthday games! I’ll grab the soda and chips, you guys find Mario Party!”

As the eldest boy left for the kitchen, Gavin pushed back to hold Ray at arms’ length and looked him over. “Ray...I know you don’t want to talk about this morning, but are you sure you’re alright?" 

Ray’s light mood dissolved as the fear from the morning came back to him. Had that really only been a few hours ago? 

“Yeah,” he murmured, his fists clenching. “I wasn’t hurt at all. I just...I really thought I was gonna die, Gav.” He huffed a humorless laugh. “Not really the way I wanted to start my birthday and get my powers, you know?”

Gavin pulled him back into a hug and sighed as Ray hid his face in his shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry, Ray.”

“Thanks, Gavin.”

They parted and went back into the living room to look for the game, Ray groaning as he scanned the shelves. “Are you serious? Did you guys not organize these at all?”

“I have a system!”

 

* * *

 

The three young men played games and ate junk food all through the day and late into the night. At around midnight they pulled out the couchbed and changed into their pajamas, but it wasn’t until around 3am that Gavin dozed off as Ray and Michael played two-player Tetris.

“Why do I even bother playing this with you?” grumbled Michael. “You always kick my ass!”

“Because I’m the birthday boy and I don’t feel like playing alone.” Ray grinned. “And I enjoy kicking your ass at my favorite game.”

“It’s three in the morning, so technically you aren’t the birthday boy anymore. Plus, it’s three in the morning, and I’m fuckin’ tired. Let’s go to bed.”

“Hey! ‘You’re not the boss of me!’” exclaimed Ray, mimicking Michael’s statement from before.

“I am absolutely the boss of you,” Michael replied, nudging the younger lad. “I’m the oldest so I’m the boss!”

“What are you, five?” Ray laughed, nudging him back.

“That would make you three, so I’m still older than you. Come on, let’s turn this off.”

“Dude! You’re so mean!”

Despite his complaining, Ray was exhausted as well, and they turned off the console and TV and tucked Gavin under the covers before climbing in themselves.

Ray laid on his stomach facing Gavin when he felt Michael’s arm drape over his shoulders. “Michael?”

“I wish you had let me pick you up this morning.”

“I know, and I kind of wish I had let you too, but after I calmed down, I really was okay.” Ray turned his face toward him. “Thanks, by the way.”

The elder lad raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Y’know, for...for wanting to come get me. If that makes sense.”

“Well obviously I can’t let you and Gav out of my sight for 2 seconds, but you’re welcome. And you know I’ll always be there for you, right?

Ray smiled, and Michael smiled back. “Right.”

“Good. Anyway, now that you have powers like me and Gav, we’ve gotta train you. Good thing it’s a weekend.”

“Training?” Ray groaned. “It’s my birthday weekend! I just wanna relax!”

“Fine, fine, quit whining! Next weekend then. Now go to sleep.”

“Bossy…”

“Shut up.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!


	2. First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray starts his first day of powers training with Michael and Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to come out! I'm a very slow writer...

The Saturday morning sun was met with groans and pillows thrown at the window. The three boys all lightly dozed in bed until their rumbling stomachs wouldn’t let them anymore, and finally got up to have breakfast.

“Three types of cereal? You guys are living the high life,” Ray quipped as he poured a bowl for himself.

“Yeah, Gavin’s freelance thing is really taking off. It’s pretty cool,” replied Michael around a mouthful of toast.

Gavin preened, grinning. “Why, thank you, boi!” 

“Welcome, boi!” 

“Dude, congrats!”

“Thank you as well, Ray!”

The rest of breakfast was mostly quiet save for the clinking of dishes and silverware as they ate. When each of them finished, they put their dishes in the sink and sat back at the table. An aura of seriousness filled the room, and finally Michael spoke:

“So, Ray. You said that when you used your powers, it was dirt and stuff?”

Ray shifted in his chair, looking down at the tabletop. “Yeah, like, a big column of dirt and rocks.”

“So you’ve got earth powers. Which means we all have weird elemental powers that we got on our 18th birthdays and none of us know why.”

“Yeah…”

“No fuckin’ way is this a coincidence. Some shit is up.”

“I guess, but what?”

“I don’t know, but it’s cliche as hell.”

“Well, while we’re figuring that part out,” Gavin piped up, tapping his feet on the floor, “we need to get you practicing with your new powers, Ray.

Michael nodded. “I already talked to him about it. We’re starting next week.”

Gavin looked between Michael and Ray, confused. “When did you do that?”

“Last night, after you fell asleep.”

“Oh...”

Ray smiled reassuringly at his pouting friend and reached over to take his hand. “Don’t worry, Gav. We just didn’t want to wake you up. 

Gavin smiled back, squeezing the hand in his. 

After a moment, they let go, and Ray turned to Michael again. “So, you guys train outside of town, right?” 

The curly-haired lad nodded. “Yeah, by the lake. It’s a lot safer, since no one really goes out there, and if I need to try new fire stuff, I can just stand out in the water and not burn the forest down.” 

“And I can not fly into buildings!” Gavin added.

Ray’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you can fly?!” 

Michael snorted. “If you call being tossed around in a mini tornado flying.”

“Well, that’s why we’re training, Michael!” protested Gavin. “You’ve got to mess up a bit before you get really good at something!" 

“And you’ve got the messing up part down, that’s for sure.”

“You’re so mean to me, Michael...”

As his friends bantered, Ray sank a little in his chair. They had already had plenty of time to practice, and he had literally gotten his powers yesterday. It was going to be a lot of work to catch up…

“Hey guys?” Ray interrupted, causing the other two to stop and look at him expectantly.

“Yeah, X-Ray?”

“How long did it take for you to be able to control your powers? Like, make them do whatever when you wanted them to?”

Michael leaned forward on crossed arms. “I don’t know, like, a few weeks? How come?”

“I just...don’t want anything to accidentally happen like yesterday. I mean, it saved my life, but the guy in the car was freaking out, and no way can I explain this to my parents." 

“I gotcha. Just don’t flail around too much and it should be fine, is what I’ve learned.” Michael pointedly glanced at Gavin, who made a face at him.

“Alright then…” Ray decided to leave it at that.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the birthday weekend flew by, but was well-spent with gaming and movie marathons, and lots of junk food. The three boys relished their time together, and group hugged for a long time when Michael and Gavin dropped Ray off at school on Monday morning.

Thankfully, the week passed without any surprise appearances from Ray’s powers, and by Friday afternoon the three were reunited again in what Gavin still insisted on calling “The Lad Pad”.

“So Ray, tomorrow morning, be ready to get up super early,” said Michael. “That way we can spend the whole weekend by the lake and get you plenty of training time in.”

Ray groaned. “Ugh, I forgot we have to be outside for this. Can’t we do like a Danger Room thing instead?”

“Dude, you gotta get some sun at some point. Don’t worry, we’ve been doing this for so long that we’re experts in keeping away all the wolves and shit." 

“Wolves?!” 

Gavin laughed, patting Ray on the shoulder. “He’s kidding! The worst we’ve had to deal with is bugs.”

“That’s not much better…”

Very responsibly, they all actually went to bed early and were off to the lake just after sunrise. They arrived at a clearing around ten in the morning, and Ray was surprised to see Michael immediately change into swim trunks.

“What are you doing?” he called as his friend waded thigh-deep into the lake.

“Oh you, know,” Michael replied as he ignited a ball of flame over his hand. “Warming up." 

“Boooo!”

“Michael, why.”

“Fuck you guys, I’m hilarious. Anyway, one of the things I learned early on is that literally everything ever is flammable, so that’s part of the reason why we’re out here. If I stand in the lake, I won’t burn everything down.” 

Ray raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Smart.”

“Hell yeah I am. So what we’re gonna start with for you is just like, basic exercises like stretches and stuff. It’s not good to be using your powers when you haven’t done any physical activity in a million years like you.” 

“Hey! I ran last week!” 

“Just follow me and Gav, Ray.”

The two older lads lead Ray through some easy exercises, such as jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups (which Ray was proud to say he was very good at), and toe-touches. When Michael came up from the final toe-touch (Ray thought it was weird he did everything while still in the water), he took a deep breath and his face became very serious.

“Okay, Ray. We gotta figure out how you activate your powers.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Michael and I have different ways of making our powers work,” Gavin explained. “When I want to use my wind, I think about things that make me feel light and happy.” He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “Like vacations, getting the perfect shot, pretty days like this one…and then-!”

Gavin jumped as he thrust his arms towards the ground, and he was thrown up in a strong breeze, hovering several yards above the ground. 

Ray gaped in awe. “Dude! The last time I saw you try something like that, you broke a window! How did you learn to fucking fly?”

The blond lad laughed, floating to the ground. “Practice, of course! And it’s not really flying yet, but I’m working on it!”

“Still, it’s really cool!” 

"Don't make his head any fucking bigger than it already is!" Michael interrupted. “Gav’s got nothing on me. What I think about is stuff that makes me feel energized or angry. Like beating you at games, or Gavin saying some stupid shit.” He brought his fists up beside him, and when he opened them, bright fire burst from his palms before settling into flames a bit bigger than a candle’s.

“That’s so awesome…”

Michael smirked. “It is. So now you gotta just figure out what goes along with your earth powers. What does ‘earth’ feel like to you?”

Ray’s face scrunched up. “How the fuck am I supposed to know? Like dirt?”

Gavin shook his head. “No, X-Ray. What do you associate earth with? Like, feelings. Close your eyes and think about it.” 

The youngest lad did so, sighing. What did he think of when he thought of earth? Well, the planet Earth was his home. Home...what made him feel at home? His favorite games, his bed, Michael and Gavin…

On instinct, Ray brought his arms up, holding them in front of him like a shield. As he did, a pillar of earth shot up from the ground in front of him, several feet wide and over a foot taller than him.

“Holy shit, guys! It worked!”

“I knew you could do it, Ray!” Gavin cried as he tackled his friend into a hug. Michael waded out of the water and joined them.

“That was great, Ray! First try and everything!”

“Thanks, guys!”

“What did you think about, then?” Gavin prodded eagerly.

Ray’s brow furrowed in concentration. “I dunno.. like, stuff that feels...homey? It was kind of weird.”

“Well, as long as you can get back to that headspace, you should be good to go,” said Michael, helping the other two up. “Now let’s keep working on that.”

“Cool,” Ray agreed, looking up at the pillar. “So I guess I should try to put this thing back in the ground?”

“Good idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Sorry this one was a bit shorter. Hopefully I'll get the next one out sooner!


	3. Camping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lads continue Ray's first weekend of training!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just under the two month mark. @_@ 
> 
> Thanks again to Kahnah for being the absolute best! She's always there to help and encourage me with this story! *hearts*

The three lads continued their training, with the elder two gladly helping Ray to figure out smaller things to do with his powers. What started with levitating rocks soon turned into an amusing round of who could hit Gavin with the most rocks, though he quickly retaliated by blowing them back at them. At lunchtime, they unpacked the food they had brought and set it out on a thick blanket, digging in immediately.

“I’m really glad you’re here with us now, Ray,” murmured Gavin, draping an arm around the brunet as he inhaled a sandwich. “It wasn’t the same without you.”

Ray finished his mouthful, and replied, “Damn right, I am a fucking delight. But seriously, it’s good to be here with you guys. Thanks for being patient with me.”

“Dude, you got your powers like a week ago!” Michael scoffed. “We don’t expect you to be an expert immediately, especially when we’ve taken a long time to get where we are ourselves.”

“Yeah…”

“So how are you feeling? I know it’s only been a couple hours, but you’re already making good progress.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, man!”

“Thanks...I mean it feels fine? It feels good? Kind of weird that I can control a natural element, but that figures, right?”

“Yeah, that just kind of comes with all this. At least you didn’t almost destroy your room when you got your powers.”

Gavin groaned. “Don’t remind me, Michael!

The eldest lad chuckled before gazing solemnly at Ray. “Seriously though, it makes you wonder about why this is happening to us. Like, are we part of something bigger? Do you think this is destiny?”

Ray raised his eyebrows. “Uh…”

Michael grinned again, picking up his bag of chips. “Just messing with you.”

“Don’t do that!” Ray exclaimed, smacking him on the arm. “That was weird and creepy.”

“What? Does philosophy freak you out or something?”

“No, you getting all serious about our place in the universe does.”

“I can’t be serious?”

Gavin piped up, “Of course you can, Michael! It’s just not like you!”

“Whatever. It was just a joke, assholes.” Michael huffed as he wadded up the bag of chips and tossed it his backpack. “Let’s get back to work.”

 

* * *

 

Ray stood in front of the pillar of earth from the morning, gazing up at it uneasily. Michael walked around the other side, inspecting it.

“So, you finally gonna work on getting this thing back in the ground now?”

“Yeah, I guess. I feel kind of bad, though. See how packed together it is? What if I like, tore up a rabbit den or something? Poor bunnies…”

Michael huffed a laugh. “Well all the more reason to give them their house back, dude. Come on and do it already.”

Ray nodded and stepped back a few feet, breathing deeply and focusing on the feeling of home. Michael was here with him, with Gavin watching from a bit away. He had their support, and it comforted him.

He threw his hands up and pushed them down, hands wide and palms to the ground. The pillar shuddered, then collapsed back into the earth with a rumble.

“Nice job, Ray!” called Gavin, applauding from where he sat on the grass.

“Thanks!”

“See? Now the bunnies are safe,” Michael declared, smirking.

“Ha ha, very funny. So what’s next?”

 

* * *

 

They continued until sundown, when they pulled out the tent they had brought and set it up and Michael provided a campfire to cook dinner.

“So Ray, how was your first day?” Gavin pressed eagerly after the meal was over. “You really have done well!”

“Thanks. I mean, it was pretty cool, tiring of course,” Ray shrugged. “Like I said earlier, this whole thing is really weird still…”

“Yeah, I understand. But at least we can deal with the weirdness together.”

“Yeah…”

Ray looked over at Michael to find him gazing up at the darkening sky and looked up himself. “Whoa…”

Gavin smiled and cooed, “Isn’t it lovely?”

“The stars are so pretty out here…” Michael murmured. “The sky just goes on forever…”

“Don’t go talking about destiny and shit again, dude.” Ray shuddered and stood up. “All this infinite cosmic beauty is scary. I’m going inside the tent so I can feel less insignificant.”

Michael rolled his eyes and went back to looking up. “Well, Gav, we lost him. He was gonna be sick of the outside sometime.”

“I was already sick of it!” exclaimed Ray from inside the tent. “Excuse the hell out of me for not complaining all day!”

“I think I’m gonna head to sleep too, boi. Are you gonna join us soon?”

“Yeah, gimme a sec.” Michael snuffed the campfire and took one last look at the sky before heading into the tent, some familiar feeling at the back of his mind.

 

* * *

 

 

 

They all changed into sleep clothes and snuggled down into their sleeping bags, glad for the rest after a strenuous day.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired in my entire life,” Ray announced, yawning loudly to prove his point.

“Well then let’s get some sleep. And Ray?” Michael and Gavin both looked at the youngest Lad fondly.

“Yeah, Michael?”

“We’re really proud of you.” Michael said, grinning as Gavin nodded enthusiastically.

Ray pulled his arms out of his sleeping bag and reached out to grab Gavin and Michael’s hands, squeezing them gently. “You guys are the best.”

“Just remember, we’re getting up at dawn tomorrow.”

“What?! Why?”

“Because we gotta leave for home early. It is a school night after all.” Ray could make out Michael winking at him in the darkness.

“Ughhhh. I take it back, you’re the worst.”

“G’night lads!”

 

* * *

 

The next morning they groggily pulled themselves out of their sleeping bags and picked up where they had left off, gradually having Ray move bigger rocks and do more exercises and working on their own techniques as well. That afternoon, they packed up the camping supplies and made sure they didn’t leave any trash on the ground, then climbed into the car to head back home before it got too late.

Ray groaned, flopping over in the back seat and rubbing at sore muscles. “Why did I sign up for this? Why did I think joining you guys would be fun?”

“Because otherwise you’ll sneeze and cause an earthquake or some shit,” Michael replied from the driver’s seat.

“They have insurance for stuff like that, right? Anything’s better than this.”

“It’s only your first weekend, Ray! You’ll get used to it eventually. Then you’ll be in shape and in better control of your powers!” Gavin assured him.

Ray pressed his face into the seat cushion and kept groaning stubbornly. Michael rolled his eyes. “You’ll be okay, you big baby.” He flipped on the radio and turned it up to drown out his friend’s complaining.

“And in other news today, there have been several more reported muggings in Achievement City in just the last week. The overall crime rate has risen by ten percent this year, and it looks like it’s going to keep going up…”

“Man, what the hell…”

“Is it really that bad?"

“Kerry told me his uncle almost got robbed last week.”

“For real? Shit…”

“...Mayor Burns has pledged to crack down on crime by increasing the police budget and training more officers, but it’s unsure how the city will cope until those measures kick in…”

“Seriously?! What the fuck is gonna happen in the meantime? It’s not like someone’s gonna-”

Michael abruptly went quiet, and the other two remained silent, their minds all on the same idea.

After a moment, Gavin spoke up. “Michael, do you think-”

“Yeah, Gavin, I do think, which is more than I can say for you! We are not about to fucking pull some Batman shit! Ray just started training and your clumsy ass would get yourself killed!” The words flew out of his mouth, and when Michael registered them, he went pale. He cleared his throat and continued.

“So no, we aren’t gonna do that. We’re gonna just focus on getting Ray to fully control his powers and getting better with our own. The police can handle it.”

Gavin looked to the backseat at Ray, who shook his head quietly but didn’t meet his eyes, and Gavin let it go.

“...For now, citizens are urged to be alert and stay as safe as possible. With the afternoon report, this is Jack Pattillo with KGRT 105.7 News.”

 

* * *

 

Jack sighed as he glanced over the news report again. So much death and destruction, and there would only be more of it the next day. The police were already stretched thin across the city, so what were the citizens supposed to do?

The bearded man tossed the papers onto the table and stood up, stretching. No one in town was stupid enough to try vigilante justice, he hoped. And as for himself…

The papers disintegrated into tiny particles that floated up to swirl around in the air in front of him. He flicked his hand, and they formed into a tiny paper person.

He was only one man, and while things were bad, they weren’t as bad as they could be.

Jack let the paper sculpture fall back into pieces and tossed them into the trash can.

It wasn’t time yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	4. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Gavin confront Michael about doing the right thing, and another confrontation occurs elsewhere...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, I'm so sorry this took so long!!! I rewrote it a couple times, and then Jenny (Kahnah) helped me really flesh it out more. Thanks again Jenny! *hearts*

“ _... there were several more robberies this week downtown. Mayor Burns’ plan to cut down crime in Achievement City has recently been put into effect, but it is yet to be seen how well it will work. Now for the evening weather, snow will be-_ _“_

Michael changed the TV over to AV mode and waited for the XBox to finish turning on, ignoring the pointed looks Ray and Gavin gave him. He tapped his feet on the carpet as he selected a single-player game and Gavin shifted beside him. Thunder rumbled distantly.

“Michael-” Gavin started.

“No.” He knew what they were thinking, but there wasn’t any point to it.

“But-”

“Gav, the discussion ended weeks ago. We’re staying right here and letting the police deal with it.”

Gavin deflated and looked away. Ray’s look turned into a glare. The thunder came again, louder.

“I’ve called you bossy before, but you know you can’t actually control us, right? You don’t actually have the final say in this.”

Michael snorted, not looking away from his game. “Why do you say that? I know the most about our powers and how to use them, I’m the oldest, what I say goes.”

“What the hell do you know that we don’t, asshole? Just because you got your powers first doesn’t mean you know more, just that you can do more!” Ray snatched the controller out of Michael’s hands and tossed it away. “Fucking look at me!”

Michael did so, glowering. He could see clouds gathering out the window in the corner of his eye. “I’ll tell you what I know, Ray. I know you’ve only been training for a few months, and while you’re getting better, you’re still fucking new to this shit. I know that you and Gav have no idea what you’d be getting into by running out there to play hero only to get fucking shot in an alley. I know that I wouldn’t be able to handle losing you two in such a stupid-ass way!”  
  
“That’s why it should be all three of us out there!” Gavin yelled suddenly, making the other two jump and look his way. “We’ve always been a team and we can’t just let our powers go to waste when we can at least _try_ and do something to help people!”

“What do you plan on doing to help then, Gavin? Knock muggers over with a strong breeze? Just because we have powers doesn’t mean we can just go around doing shit when we have no kind of training!” What didn’t they understand about this?! They were really trying to get themselves killed, weren’t they?

“Then let’s _start_ training to do it!” Ray interjected, sitting up and hitting the couch cushion for emphasis. “We’re heading out again tomorrow so let’s figure out what kind of approach we want and go for it!”

“Damn it, this is so fucking stupid! I told you--”

Michael cut himself off as the power went out, and the Lads sat in stunned silence before it was broken by a thunderclap. Out the window, dark clouds had covered the city.

 

* * *

 

Ryan Haywood very calmly entered the elevator and slid his ID card in the scanner before entering the code for the upper labs. He examined himself in the reflective metal wall. His hair was still out of place from when he got the email from his boss an hour ago and almost tore it out in anger. His shirt was a bit wrinkled from the long day and his haste to reach his car and drive back to the research building from home. He carefully fixed both before the elevator dinged, and purposefully walked slowly down the hall to his boss’s office. As he came to the door with the plaque reading “ _Charles Marlow_ ”, he smiled, and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” came the familiar voice.

“Just me, Charlie,” answered Ryan cheerily as he opened the door. He stepped inside, ignoring that the man hadn’t yet invited him in. His white haired, steel-eyed boss was going through documents at his desk, dark clouds gathering outside the window behind him. “I got your message earlier, and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

The other man frowned, leaning across the desk to look Ryan in the eye. “Listen, Ryan. I know you don’t like the circumstances here, but this is the only way for the project to move forward. Lucius and Coleman will take care of the technology and you’ll be able to move on!”

Ryan’s smile turned sharp as thunder rumbled. “You mean _my_ project. _My_ technology. You know I developed everything on my own, Charlie, so even though I made it while working here at ARDDW, it’s all my ideas and handiwork. You can’t just hand it over to those ass-kissers.”

His boss sneered at the curse. “That’s no way to talk about your coworkers, Haywood. The decision’s been made.”

“And you don’t want to reconsider?”

“I don’t.” Charles replied curtly, turning back to the papers on his desk. “Go home.”

There was a bright flash and a crack! And Ryan was now standing next to Charles, making the man jump at his sudden movement.

“We both grew up hearing the same kind of thing, right Charles? Work hard, do what’s right, and you’ll be successful?” Ryan tilted his head, smile fading into a deep frown. “But you know, I’ve done all that, followed all the rules, and yet here you are, a liar, a thief, and somehow more successful than me. And you’re trying to take what’s mine with no consequence. I think that should be fixed.”

The older man was sweating now, his face unsure. “Haywood, what are you about to do?”

Ryan gently laid a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I’m not going to follow the rules anymore, Charlie.”

Charles screamed as lightning flowed through his system, Ryan gazing dispassionately down at him. The older man’s limbs spasmed and twitched, eyes wide and unseeing even after Ryan let go. He wrinkled his nose upon seeing that the man had pissed himself, but then turned his attention to the security camera in the corner above them.

“One task down, two to go.”

Ryan grabbed the master keys from his twitching boss’ desk and left the office, heading back to the elevator. After pressed the button for a lower floor, he closed his eyes and reached out, pulling the storm closer around the neighborhood. He reached his desired floor and stepped out of the elevator, using the keys he had taken to open the main security office.

Glancing over the various video feeds, Ryan shrugged and slammed his hands onto the equipment, frying everything, disabling the alarms, and erasing any evidence that he had been there. The cameras were useless now, and he would have full access to every lab.

“One last thing…”

He grabbed a cart from the nearby storage room and returned to the elevator, heading back up to the main labs. He pushed the cart around each room, chuckling to himself as he picked up projects and examined them as one would fruit in a supermarket. Some he added to the cart, some he left behind. When he finally found his own work, he scowled. It had already been moved to Lucius and Coleman’s area. Those asshats must have known about Marlow’s decision for a while, with being his foremost brownnosers. He grabbed his project and placed it the most carefully in the cart before pulling out his phone and checking the time. It was getting late and he had what he wanted, so it was about time to leave.

Ryan took the elevator down one last time to the ground floor, pushing the cart out to the parking lot to where his car was. He opened up the trunk and began loading it with the stolen tech and his own project, lovingly muttering,“Don’t worry, you’re all in much better hands now.”

He closed the trunk and climbed into the driver’s seat. Finally, he looked back up at the building where he had dreamed of working at for a long time. Achievement Research and Development for a Different World. He concentrated, pulling the storm on top of the building and focusing it. With a motion of his hand, extremely powerful lightning struck, overloading and destroying the power systems and wrecking the networks. He wished his lightning would allow for more physical destruction in the sense of smashing things, but he figured a few small fires would suffice.

Satisfied with his work, Ryan pulled out of the parking lot and drove away, allowing the storm to slowly dissipate behind him. The world was certainly going to be different soon.

 

* * *

 

Gavin was the first to step over to the window, careful to not look directly at the huge lightning storm surrounding the skyscraper they could see from their apartment. The other two quickly followed. “What the bloody hell is happening over there?”

“Why is there a thunderstorm in one spot?” Ray murmured, eyes wide. “Wasn’t it just covering the whole city?”

“Yeah!”

“Then what could be causing that?”  
  
“Someone with powers like ours,” Michael murmured. “It has to be.”

“What?! But how?” Gavin squawked, whipping around to gaze at him in fear. “We’ve never seen anyone like us before!”

Ray also turned, glaring. “What was that about knowing more?” Enough was enough. There was too much going on now for them to just stand by and wait. He looked back out the window, seeing that the storm was starting to die down. The city’s crime was more than enough reason, but this new person with powers...This was going to have to be the last straw. He turned back to the eldest lad. “Huh, Michael?”

Michael scowled. “Don’t fuckin’ talk to me like that.”

“You know what this means, right Michael? It means we’re not alone and whoever the hell that is is actually doing something with their powers!”

“You don’t even know what they’re doing! They’re probably doing some fucked up shit like robbing the building!”

“You get what I’m trying to say! We need to find whoever that is! Maybe they’ll know more about all this! We need all the help we can get to-”  
  
“To do what, Ray?” Michael was in Ray’s face now, using his bulk to try and loom over him like an asshole. “I fucking told you you’re not ready!”

“I don’t give a shit! You don’t think I know that?! I told you you don’t know everything! I know I’m not ready and I’m scared as hell! Just because we don’t fucking talk about how we get our powers or why doesn’t mean I don’t wonder, and even though you try and shut me and Gav down by talking about what could happen to us doesn't mean I didn’t realize it already!” Ray pushed him away and Michael growled, still trying to be intimidating. “Don’t give me that bully shit, Michael! I’m not going to let you stop us anymore! We don’t have time to wait any longer!”

Michael was breathing heavily, obviously trying not to lose control in the apartment. After several deep breaths, he exhaled sharply, a small jet of flame coming from his nose. His posture sagged slightly. “Ray...I know that.” He walked away from the window and sat back down on the couch. “Excuse the fuck out of me for wanting to keep you safe, I guess.”

Gavin, who had been nervously looking between them before, instantly sat next to him, frowning. “Michael, don’t be like that. Ray’s right, and you know it. We can’t just sit around and ignore everything anymore, especially with this new person doing whatever it is they’re doing. We have to start doing what we can to help people and find out who that person is and what they know. Whether they’re friend or foe...I guess we’ll have to just figure that out then.” He took Michael’s hand. “Please, Michael.” He glanced at Ray, minutely tilting his head towards their older friend.

Taking the hint, Ray sighed and joined them, sitting down heavily on Michael’s other side and leaning his head against his shoulder. “Michael, we both know you love us and want to protect us and all that and we appreciate it and we love you too, but it’s not just about us.” He took Michael’s other hand and squeezed it gently. “Please, Michael.” Ray looked up at Michael and waited.

Michael’s scowl slowly faded, leaving him with a frustrated expression. “...I’m scared too. You know that’s why I’m like this. I don’t…” His face scrunched up again as he tried to properly articulate himself. “I don’t want to just ignore everything going on. But I don’t want to risk you two either. And now whoever this is just pops up out of nowhere and fuckin'...I have a bad feeling about them.” He took a moment to look Gavin in the eye, and then Ray. Ray nodded for him to continue.

“I want to know what’s going on too, but if we do this, we have to be careful. I think we should try and be as low-key as possible so we don’t attract that person’s attention immediately. Let’s wait and see if they do something else first. Okay?”

Gavin smiled, and Ray squeezed Michael’s hand again. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Michael sighed, leaning his head on top of Ray’s. “I guess that means training’s gonna be twice as tough now.”

Ray groaned as Gavin happily laid across their laps. “Ughh, why?”

“Hey, you asked for it! If we’re gonna do this we’re gonna be as prepared as possible!”

Out the window, the concentrated storm had dissipated and snow was beginning to fall.


	5. New Training Area, First Test!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lads need a new place to train, and end up in a bit of trouble...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh gosh i'm so sorry
> 
> that's all i can really say ;w; thanks for sticking with me!!!

The next morning, Michael thoughtfully tapped his fork against the table as they ate breakfast. “So, it is officially too fucking cold to go to the lake, which means we need to find somewhere else to train.”

Ray looked up from his pancakes in surprise. “Wait, you didn’t already have somewhere? Where do you guys usually go in the winter?”

Gavin shrugged. “Well, the last few years have been a bit warmer and it didn’t snow, so we just stayed at the lake and Michael kept us warm when it got colder in the evening. But this year it’s snowing again…”

“So that means we need to find a place that’s big and open while still keeping us, or really, you two, from freezing to death,” Michael finished. “Any ideas?”  
  
They all were quiet, each trying to think of a place that fit the description. Ray went back to eating as they did so, taking another bite of pancake as he racked his brain for a good location. An indoor gym? The school basketball court might be empty this weekend but they probably wouldn’t be able to get in without being seen. Plus, if something went wrong they would be ruining school property. A regular public gym would have too many people. A park would also have the people but would also be outside…

“What about an indoor pool?” suggested Gavin. “Since it’s winter there won’t be a lot of people.”

“Yeah, but there’s still cameras and stuff,” replied Michael, shaking his head. “We need someplace without any people or surveillance at all.”

“So an abandoned building or something?”

“Yeah! But one that isn’t about to fall apart.”

Gavin perked up. “What about one of the old warehouses by the docks? Those should all be pretty empty!”

Ray frowned unsurely, but Michael grinned, slapping Gavin on the back. “Great idea, boi! They’re away from the main city and still near water too! You’re a genius, Gavvy!”

“Thank you very much, boi!” Gavin preened at the praise, and Ray rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile anyway. Still, he felt uneasy about the idea.

“Guys, are you sure? Wouldn’t it be dangerous there? Like, aren’t abandoned warehouses always a terrible place to be?”

“Yeah, in horror movies and crime shows and shit like that, but I’m pretty sure we’re not in either of those. Besides, if anyone shows up, I’ll kick their asses!”

“I guess…”

“Come on, Ray, we have to go _somewhere_. We can’t just fall out of practice and we don’t have anywhere else to go! So we’re gonna scope out a totally abandoned place and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Ray groaned loudly and laid his head on the table. He had a bad feeling about this.

 

* * *

 

Realizing that his friends were too stubborn to listen to him anymore, Ray remained quiet on the ride to the edge of town where the old docks were while the other two chatted excitedly in the front. As they approached the huge warehouses, they slowed down enough to check for parked cars or shady looking people hanging around. After a few sweeps, Gavin pointed to one of the numbered buildings next to the edge of the water and announced, “We’re going to train in there! Come on, Michael, park the car outside warehouse number six!”  
  
“Why six?” asked Michael, though he started to turn the car in that direction anyway.

“I just have a good feeling about six!”

“Okay, I guess…”

Gavin practically bounced out of the car, Michael following to help him with the heavy door, and Ray dragging his feet behind them, hands shoved in his jacket’s pockets. As the two older lads struggled with the door, he gazed up at the big yellow “6” on the side of the concrete building. Six...why did that number suddenly give him a feeling as well?

“Ray!”

The youngest lad was startled out of his thoughts by Michael’s call, and looked back down to see Michael holding the door open for him by leaning his whole weight against it, looking a bit annoyed that Gavin had abandoned him to explore inside. Ray quickly jogged inside, and Michael let the door slam shut with a sigh of relief. They both looked around the large space, finding it empty except for a few wooden crates. Gavin was already getting to it, cheerfully flying from end to end of the area, having shed his jacket and scarf to rid himself of the extra weight.

“It’s fucking cold in here,” announced Michael, going over to the crates. “I’m gonna start a fire so you two don’t freeze to death. You get to work, Ray.”

Ray looked down at the concrete floor, a thought occurring to him about their new training area a bit too late. “Wait, how am I supposed to work with this? It’s not dirt!”

“Concrete and cement is made out of like, crushed rocks and shit, right?” called the elder lad. “It counts!”

“I guess…” muttered Ray. So how was he supposed to do this? Just...focus on the crushed rocks? Did his powers even work on any kind of rock? How much of this concrete would he be able to work with without tearing up the whole floor?

“Hey! I don’t see you moving, Ray!”

“Shut up! I’m trying to figure it out!”

“You can do it, Ray!” cheered Gavin from the rafters.

“Thanks, Gav…” he sighed, before taking his hands out of his pockets and removing his jacket. Okay, better start small… Ray closed his eyes, felt the breeze of Gavin above him and the spreading warmth of the fire Michael had just started with planks from the crates, reached inside himself, and redirected his focus to a small area of concrete in front of him. He pulled up-- and yanked the chunk he was focused on from the floor, allowing it to float in midair. Ray breathed out. “Okay, I guess it works, then.”

“Ray!” The youngest lad gave a yelp and jumped as the chunk crashed to the ground, not having noticed Gavin float down and land behind him to watch. “That was really cool, Ray! So you can work with more than just regular dirt? Do you think it’ll work on metal too?”

“What? Why metal?”

“Well, maybe not all metals, but ones with lots of mineralness, you know?”

“Uh, I don’t know? I don’t think I’m near that level anyway…”  
  
“That’s a shame...But still! You can get there!”

As Gavin continued to babble, Ray’s attention was stolen by a sound at the back door at the other end of the warehouse. It was opened with a loud creak, and a man in dark casual clothing stood in the doorway, calling back over his shoulder, “Yeah, Pete! Just start unpacking the trunk, it’s all clear in...here…” The man trailed off as he turned to look around the warehouse, spotting the three lads frozen in place at the intrusion. “Hey! What the hell are you kids doing here?!”

Michael, who was crouching over the small bonfire he had just created, recovered the fastest of them and stood up, replying, “I could ask you the same thing! We got here first, so go find another warehouse to be an asshole in!”

The man sneered. “Listen, you little fucker, this is your only warning. You and your little buddies,” he demanded, gesturing to Gavin and Ray, “need to get the fuck out of here before me and my colleagues have to make you get out.”

“Is this your property? ‘Cause last time I checked this whole area was abandoned, so we can go where we fuckin’ want!”  
  
Gavin took Ray’s hand and hesitantly started walking toward their older friend, Ray following and pressing close to him. “Michael...maybe we should just go.”

“You should listen to your little friend, kid.”  
  
Michael held a hand up, temper in full force. “Hold on, Gav, let me deal with this. How you gonna make us leave, anyway?”   
  
All three lads froze again as the man pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at Michael. “I think this is pretty convincing.”

 _Fuck_ , Ray thought loudly. _Fuckfuckfuck_. What had happened to being careful? Now this guy was pointing a gun at Michael and oh God they were all gonna die!

The man laughed as two more men, his “colleagues”, entered the warehouse. “Not so loud and bitchy now, huh kid?”

The tallest of the criminals glanced annoyedly at the lads before turning to the first man. “Felix, why are you fucking around with these kids for? Get rid of them, I don’t care how!”

The first man, Felix, cocked the gun. “Yeah, yeah.”

No. This wasn’t going to happen. Michael just couldn’t die here, Ray wouldn’t let that happen! He leapt forward instinctively, threw his arms out and _pulled_ , ripping a large chunk of concrete up to shield himself and his friends as Felix fired several shots at them. The bullets ricocheted away and the warehouse was left in silence as the echoes of the gunshots faded.

“What...what just happened?”

“What the fuck? Did one of those kids just do that?”

“Okay, fuck this. Just kill them already!”

Ray’s heart sank into his stomach at the word _kill_. This was it. This was going to be their test to see if they were capable, or if they would die trying to do the right thing. Shit.

He glanced at his friends. Michael had pressed himself up against the wall of concrete and was grabbing Gavin, who was trembling with wide eyes, to push him there as well. The eldest lad made eye contact with Ray and unceremoniously shoved Gavin into his arms, exclaiming, ”Hold him for a minute!”

Before Ray could properly get a hold on him, Michael was stepping out from behind the wall and blasting a cone of flame at the men, causing them to shout and hit the ground to try and avoid it. Michael immediately threw another one at them and the men scrambled out the door they came in, Pete yelling, “Let’s get the fuck outta here! Leave the shit, let’s just go!”

Michael quickly followed them to the door and got there just in time to see the car pulling away as fast as possible, the tires’ screech loud enough to echo through the open door. Ray and Gavin poked their heads out from behind the wall.

“A-Are they gone?” called Gavin, clutching Ray’s hand.

“Yeah.” Michael replied quietly. “Um, they left some shit here, though.”

The two younger lads came out completely and walked to where Michael was standing, staring at several boxes and packages stacked up on the road behind the warehouse overlooking the bay.

“What is it?” Ray managed to croak out.

Michael frowned. “Only one way to find out, I guess.” He approached one of the packages and ripped it open, eyes widening when he saw a bunch of smaller packs of white powder inside. “Oh. Fuck.”

“Uh, what do we do with this? We can’t just leave it here…”

“Oh! I know! Stand back!” Gavin brightened up considerably and jogged around the side of the contraband, facing the water. After Michael was out of the way, he took a deep breath, pulled his arms back, and pushed, making a gust of wind to blow the boxes and packages far out over the bay, where they eventually fell in with several splashes. “What do you think?” he asked expectantly, though there was still an obvious tremble in his hands.

Ray blinked and didn’t know how to respond.

“Nice one, Gavvy,” Michael laughed shakily. “So, uh, horror movie or crime show?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! *hearts*


	6. Determination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did this mean for them? What were they going to do? Would they still be able to do this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long! But here is is and I hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much to Kahnah for kicking my butt to get it finished!

After a few more moments of watching the spot where the contraband had hit the water, Michael gently grabbed Ray and Gavin’s hands and pulled them back inside. He didn’t say another word, just guided them through the warehouse to the main door where their car was parked. Gavin glanced at the fire Michael had started as they passed by. It was dying, the crates’ planks barely enough fuel to keep it going.

They sat in silence as Michael drove them back to the apartment. Gavin tried not to fidget too much and stared out the window. His excited mood from that morning was utterly destroyed, but how could he be excited after that?! He’d been too terrified to help his friends! What kind of aspiring hero hid while his best friend was in danger of being shot? Not a hero, a bloody coward!

And now Michael was clenching the wheel with bone-white fists, and Ray was curled up in the back with his earbuds in and his hood up, and Gavin was afraid. What did this mean for them? What were they going to do? Would they still be able to do this?

Maybe he had been too optimistic. Too many cartoons and movies had made him think it would be easy to stare down someone with a gun, especially when you had super powers. None of them showed the reality, the fear, the shock of knowing that that person was completely willing to take your life.

Gavin pulled his knees up to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to think about nicer things for the rest of the ride.

 

* * *

 

Gavin winced as Michael slammed the front door loudly behind them and stalked to their room, slamming that door as well. He glanced at Ray, who threw himself on the couch, still blocking them out with his earbuds.

Gavin sighed and sank down on the opposite end of the couch from Ray, wanting to say something, anything to somehow fix this. Instead, he reached for Ray’s hand, and after a moment Ray reached back and gently squeezed his before letting go again.

What should he do? Michael surely wouldn’t be up to talking about what happened for quite a while, and Ray had also clammed up. He considered turning on the television, but the noise would feel wrong with the current mood and he knew watching the news would only make everything feel worse. In the end, Gavin pulled out his laptop and took another look at the photo edits he had been commissioned to do. Might as well be useful in some way.

That night, Ray and Gavin slept in the couch bed together, huddled close in silence while Michael stayed in the bedroom. The younger lad hadn’t said a word all evening, but Gavin knew not to press him. Instead he just buried his face in dark hair, replaying the day’s events until he fell asleep and dreamed about them.

The men and their guns. Feeling frozen and helpless. Being absolutely useless…

When he woke up, it was essentially the same as before. Ray blocking everything out with his headphones in the sideroom, testing out the streaming equipment, Michael hidden away in the bedroom. Gavin dragged himself out of the covers and made himself a bowl of cereal, pushing his spoon around the bowl while still mired in thought.

Was it already over? It couldn’t be, could it? Not when people still needed them...but they couldn’t underestimate the danger they would be in again. And they wouldn’t. Not now that they had a taste of what they were in for. They still needed to do this.

He could convince himself of that easily, probably Ray as well. But Michael...

The blond lad stood up and walked down the hall to their room, knocking softly on the door before going in. Michael was sitting up on his bunk and clutching a pillow with his face buried into it. He didn’t look up as Gavin came in and sat down next to him, his hands clasped on his lap. 

“Michael…”

Silence.

“Michael, we need to go back.”

Now the older lad looked up from the pillow, a harsh glare darkening his face. “What?”

Gavin flinched at the look, but spoke up anyway. “We need to go back and keep training, Michael.  We can’t let this stop us. We still have to help people.”

Michael’s face changed from one of plain anger to one of furious disbelief. “Why the fuck are you even still for this when you didn’t do a goddamn thing back there, Gavin?!”

“I-! Th-that’s not fair, Michael!” Gavin stuttered. “I know I-”

The older lad threw down the pillow and stood up, looming over him. “What do you mean it isn’t fair?! You sat there like a moron and didn’t move until it was over! And you’re saying you should be out there fighting?!”

Gavin’s clasped hands clenched into fists. “I can get better! There’s no point in staying scared all my life! I don’t want someone else to get hurt or die because I was a bloody coward!" 

“He’s right,” came Ray’s voice from the doorway. The other two glanced up to see him leaning there, headphones gone and arms crossed over his chest. “If it’s not gonna be us, it’ll be someone who doesn't have what we have, whether they’re trying to go all vigilante or just some innocent person.”

“Then that’ll be their own fault for going out unprepared.” Michael spat.

“Dude...” Ray uncrossed his arms and blinked, brow furrowed and mouth agape. “How could you say that? Don’t you care?”

“Of course I fucking care, Ray,” snapped Michael. “Don’t _ever_ imply that I don’t. But don’t fucking be so shocked that I care about you more than someone I don’t know! I’d have thought you’d appreciate mattering to me so damn much. I don’t want you to get hurt or killed, excuse the fuck out of me! If that means we don’t become superheroes or what the fuck ever, I’m okay with that!”

“And I’m not! You know what I was thinking on the way back here, Michael? I was just thinking...that...fuck, if I hadn’t moved quick enough, if I hadn’t put up that wall in time, one or more of us would be hurt or fucking dead! And then that reminded me that other people don’t have powers like ours and _do_ die, all the time! So what does that say about me if I can’t get over myself and do what I can to help them? Michael, I am _so_ fucking scared, but we need to go back and do this. Yesterday went badly, yeah. But a bad start doesn’t mean we should just immediately give up!”

Michael gazed at Ray, eyes full of intensity and another unfamiliar emotion Gavin couldn’t place. “I’m not willing to-” 

“Don’t even say what you’re about to say. I don’t care. I’m scared as fuck, but I’m going to go back out there and keep training and become what this city needs, with or without you.”

“So will I,” Gavin piped up, getting up to stand next to Ray. Michael growled in disbelief.

“I’m not going to keep going in circles with you two. Fucking go, then! See if I come running after you to save your asses again!”

With that, Michael laid back down on his bed, facing away from the other two.

 

* * *

 

The remainder of the weekend passed, and a heavy feeling hung over the apartment. Gavin and Ray spent the rest of the time back on the couch, playing a few games together before Ray called his dad to pick him up. The two hugged tightly as Gavin walked Ray to the front of the building.

“Are you gonna be okay, Gav?” Ray asked, squeezing his friend’s shoulder. “You can call me to talk about it if you want.”

“I know, Ray. Thanks,” Gavin replied, smiling softly. “I’ll be alright, I think. It was terrifying, but we all made it out, so I’ll be fine. Thank you for protecting us, by the way.”

“Of course, man. There’s no need to thank me for that. We’re still on for next weekend, right?”

“Yeah! I meant what I said!”

“Good! I’ll see you later, then.”

“Bye, Ray! Be safe!" 

They waved at each other as Ray got into the car with his dad, and Gavin watched them drive away until they turned the corner.

 

* * *

 

From the outside, the next week passed mostly uneventfully. Ray went to school and talked to friends. Gavin worked on his commissions and communicated with clients. Michael went to work and joked around with his boss. 

But internally, each lad was playing the events of the weekend in their head over and over. Despite all their training together, they were barely prepared in more ways than one. For Gavin and Ray, this meant they now needed to keep on guard for surprises like the men at the warehouse. For Michael, it meant that and something else.

At the apartment, Michael and Gavin barely spoke all week, only exchanging tense glances and hesitant greetings. Gavin also noticed Michael spending some time away from the apartment, but decided to give his roommate some space and not pry.

 

* * *

 

On that Saturday morning, Ray asked his parents to take him to Gavin and Michael’s place again, and since he had finished all of his homework the previous night, his dad drove him there where Gavin waited outside on the steps. They waited until the car was out of sight to begin walking to the nearby bus stop.

Gavin smiled widely at his friend. “Good to see you, X-Ray.”

“You too, Vav.” Ray pulled his overnight bag up on his shoulder. “I brought us lunch in thermoses so we won’t get too cold or hungry when we get there.”

“Oh, good idea! Thank you!”

“No prob, dude. Just trying to be prepared.”

Together they waited for the bus, chatting idly about the week’s minor events, and when it arrived, sat in companionable silence as their apprehension grew. Neither wanted to bring up the idea of the men from before coming back, and both simply hoped it wouldn’t be the case.

They got off near the docks and walked the rest of the way, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious and feeling glad they had both bundled up when it began to softly snow again. By the time they arrived at Warehouse 6, both lads were red-nosed and ready to break out Ray’s soup.

They had settled down to eat when the sound of a car pulling up outside made them both freeze up, and they glanced at each other before slowly putting down the thermoses and walking over to the door and peeking out of the window in it.

The car was Michael’s, and their friend was sitting on the hood, looking back at them impassively.

Gavin was the one to open the door and step out. “Michael? I thought you weren’t coming!”

Ray joined him, frowning. “Yeah, I thought you made that pretty clear.”

Michael sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I told you I can’t let you guys out of my sight. Not even now. Or maybe especially now. Whatever. I thought about it, and I’m here. Now hold on a second." 

He opened the trunk of the car, lugging out a bunch of supplies that he laid out on the warehouse floor in front of his stunned friends.  

“The place is cold as fuck for you guys, so I got a heater, a generator for it, some blankets, some folding chairs so we don’t have to sit on the floor, and a couple of gym mats just in case we need them for like warm up exercise stuff.”

Ray whistled as he shifted through the items. “This is a lot of shit. How did all this fit in the car?”

Michael shrugged. “I made it fit. It’s not much more than what we take when we go camping.”

“Oh, Michael!” Gavin crowed, clinging to his friend’s arm. “Is that why you kept leaving? This is so nice, Michael! Thank you!” 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome,” Michael replied, patting his shoulder. “Now let’s get it set up." 

After the generator was turned on and the heater was running, they closed the door and sat down in the chairs to rest. Gavin’s leg bounced in excitement as Ray warmed his hands in front of the heater, both of them unconsciously waiting for Michael to start the day’s session. 

Michael took his sweet time, fussing over Ray’s hands (“Why don’t you ever bring gloves? It’s fucking freezing.”) and shoving one of the blankets at him. Finally, he sat back down and looked at both of his best friends, smiling almost automatically at the sight of them despite his lingering frustration.

Ray and Gavin gave simultaneous sighs of relief and the youngest lad leaned over to take Michael’s hand.

“So you mean it? You’re really with us?” 

“Yeah, asshole.”  
  
“Are you sure, Michael?” Gavin asked, a grin fighting its way onto his face. “No takebacks this time?”

“Yeah, no takebacks.”

“So we’re really going to do this as a team?”  
  
“Enough already! I said yeah, we’re gonna do this all together and be a team!” 

As soon as the words left his lips, a great flash of light appeared overhead, causing the boys to yelp and cover their eyes. When they peeked out through their fingers, they saw three gems, one floating front each of their faces.

Ray was the first to reach out and touch his, carefully cradling the circular ruby in both hands and staring deeply into the shining depths.

Michael was the second, handling the square aquamarine by the corners and turning it this way and that to examine it. 

Gavin was the third, holding the triangular peridot in one hand and rubbing the golden L that adorned the face of the gem with the thumb of the other hand.

"Beautiful..." They whispered in unison as the gems began to glow, and they were engulfed in light.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad we're finally here! Michael was getting on my nerves!!
> 
> EDIT: I added the wonderful art dragonastra recently drew for me! Thank you so much my dear!!!


	7. Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay then,” Michael sighed, throwing up his hands in the air. “This might as well happen too. You’re right, this shit is weird as fuck. I’m not sure why I’m still questioning it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, it's been another few months. But I've been going through some rough stuff and writing JJBA fanfics, so that's part of why this has taken so long. But here it is! Thanks to Jenny for being patient and helping me!!

Ray blinked and found himself in a garden filled with rose bushes planted in lush earth. But, wait, how did he get here? Where were his friends? He tried to turn around to get a better idea of his surroundings, but when he twisted his body and nothing happened, he looked down and saw his feet weren’t touching the ground. He was floating in midair above the rich soil! And his feet, along with the rest of his body, were glowing! Ray held his right hand up in front of his face and turned it back and forth in wonder. What was happening to him? 

As he gazed at his hand, there was a flash and he was suddenly wearing a fingerless glove on it. He raised his other hand in surprise and a glove appeared on it as well. He touched his chest to make sure what he was seeing was real and with another flash, this time from his torso, his heavy coat turned into a red sleeveless shirt with gold trim, and his jeans became white shorts. Ray kicked his legs out to get a better look, and his snow boots became red boots to match the rest of the outfit.

The area over his heart suddenly felt warm, and as he touched the spot in curiosity, the gem he had held moments ago appeared, pinned to his shirt and shining. He ran his fingers over the golden L embossed on it, and another, softer light column appeared in front of him. He tentatively reached toward it and took hold of whatever was inside. He pulled his hand back out and saw that he was holding what looked like a small, short white rod with a golden pommel on the bottom and a closed round rosebud on the top. The weight felt good and familiar in his hand, and that thought made him realize: he wasn’t afraid. Even though he was in this strange place without the others, going through this transformation, he was quite calm and only a bit confused.

Finally, Ray felt an incredible warmth flow over him, making him close his eyes to savor it, and when he opened them, he was back in the warehouse with the others.

 

* * *

 

“What the fuck?!” yelled Michael, who was holding a sword with a squared blade and staring at it in shock.

“What’s happening?” Gavin cried, clutching tightly to a triangular bow.

Both of Ray’s friends were dressed in outfits similar to his, except that Gavin was in green and Michael was in blue. Ray looked down at the wand in his hand.

“We just...changed clothes? But how? Where did you guys go? I was in some other place...”

“Was it a forest that was on fire?” asked Michael. Ray shook his head.

“No, I was in some kind of garden.”

“I was in the middle of some grassy plain,” Gavin said. “It was so windy I thought I was going to get blown away.”

Michael looked lost. “So we...each went to some weird place and magically changed our clothes? I... this is so weird. I mean, we all look pretty good, but what the fuck.”

“So...” Ray murmured, now examining his gloves. “I guess we don’t have to worry about superhero costumes?”

“I guess? This whole thing keeps getting weirder...”

Gavin took the triangular bow he was holding in both hands and turned it over, saying, “And what is this? I haven’t shot a bow since the one time they let us do archery in gym class! And this is shaped so oddly...”

Michael lifted his sword, very carefully testing the corners of the blade with his thumb and hissing slightly when one pricked it and a tiny bit of blood welled up in that spot. He stuck the thumb in his mouth for a moment and held the blade away from him until he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and wondered, “Who makes a square bladed sword? I mean it looks cool, but...”

Ray ran his fingers over the round rosebud on the top of his wand, then pointed the wand at the wall. “How is this supposed to work?” He flicked his wrist and a bolt of magic shot from the rosebud, lighting up the room in red and leaving a small crater in the concrete. Ray immediately dropped the wand and nervously hopped away from it, instinctively moving toward Michael. “Oh.”

They all stared at the damaged wall for a while, too stunned to speak, even Michael too shocked to yell.

Suddenly, Gavin wailed. “We don’t know how to use weapons! This means we have to train even more now!”

“Not me!” chirped Ray, cheerfully but cautiously waving his wand as he picked it up again. “It looks like this baby is just point ‘n’ zap!”

“Oh, rub it in, why don’t you!”

“Don’t mind if I do!”

“Guys, come on,” sighed Michael, pulling out his phone from his backpack. “There’s gotta be like, online training for swordplay and archery, right? I have no idea if they have anything in the city, especially during the winter…”

Ray hummed thoughtfully, glancing around the warehouse. “Maybe we could set up a little shooting range and get you a practice dummy or something… It’s not like you guys can actually practice using your powers at a regular training place, and there’s still tons of room in here.”

“Good idea, Ray,” Michael replied, then wrinkled his nose. “But now I’ll have to buy even more crap… These powers are getting expensive.”

Gavin nodded sympathetically. “Too bad these jewels didn’t give us a high-tech secret hideout, too. Don’t worry Michael, I’ll help pay for it this time.”

“Thanks, Gav.”

“So like...in the meantime, how do we change back?” Ray wondered aloud, sitting down again in one of the chairs by the heater. “We can’t walk around like this...”

Gavin tapped his chin. “Maybe we just... I don’t know, decide to? Like, let me try.” He stood firm and touched the gem on his chest, saying in serious tone, “I want to go back to normal.” With a soft flash, the outfit was gone and Gavin was wearing his regular clothes again. “Oh, it worked. That was easy.”

“What made you think that would work anyway?!” exclaimed Michael incredulously.

“Well this is already really strange, so I figured that being direct about it would be the right way.”

“Okay then,” Michael sighed, throwing up his hands in the air. “This might as well happen too. You’re right, this shit is weird as fuck. I’m not sure why I’m still questioning it.”

“So to change we have to decide we want to be heroes, and to change back we decide to go back to normal?” Ray muttered. “At least it’s not complicated...”

“Small blessings, I guess,” replied Michael, carefully turning his sword over in his hands. “I think we should just focus on practicing our regular powers until we can get the extra equipment, though.”

“Sounds good, boi.”

“Makes sense.”

 

* * *

 

With that decision made, Ray and Michael also returned to their regular outfits and they all went back to their usual warm up moves, though they were all a bit distracted thinking about what had just happened. The transformation gems pinned to their new outfits were now pinned to their shirts, automatically disguised as smaller golden pins in their respective shapes. 

As Ray finished his stretches and moved into the elemental experimentation part of his regular training, he raised a small chunk of concrete out of the floor and hovered it over his outstretched hand, staring at it without really seeing it.

Things truly seemed to be getting more and more strange, and they still had no way of knowing or finding out where these powers had come from. How long could they just accept all of this? Though, they didn’t seem to have much of a choice but to… 

“You know,” Ray spoke up, “I kind of want to freak out all over again.”

“Fuck, me too.”

“Absolutely.”

But none of them did. Instead, Ray spent the rest of their session in a daze, and if he had been paying attention to the other two, he would have seen them also going through the movements of their exercises on autopilot. At the end of the day, they gathered their things, bundled back up, and climbed into the car to head home. Michael focused on driving them safely through the snow-covered roads, Ray stared out the window in the back, and Gavin unzipped his jacket enough so that he could fiddle with the golden pin on his shirt.

“You know,” Gavin murmured, “It doesn’t feel  _ bad _ . You know, like, wrong. It feels like it came from a good place. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, I think I get what you mean,” replied Ray, still gazing out the window. “I wonder why, though. It feels like...something’s going to happen because of all this.”

Michael glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “Well whatever it is, we’ll make sure to be ready for it.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

When they arrived back at the apartment, Michael and Ray headed straight for the bedroom, but Gavin hung back, telling the other two, “I’ll go to bed soon, I just need to look over a few projects first.”

They accepted this with tired nods and Gavin was left alone in the living room, surrounded by the gear they had needed to bring inside. He stepped around it all, making his way over to one of the big windows and standing in front of it, gazing out at the brightly lit city and darkening sky. Reaching up to touch the golden pin on his shirt, he gently pressed his fingers to it, whispering, “I want to transform again.”

As soon as he said the words, the pin began to glow, and he was once again swept away to the field. The winds swirling around him felt just as powerful as the first time, but he felt a little more like he could stand in the face of them now that he had experienced it before. It happened the same way, flashes of light changing his clothing from warm winter clothes to the green, gold, and white costume. The triangular bow appeared and he reached out to grasp it firmly.

But what Gavin anticipated was the feelings he experienced in this strange pocket dimension. The wind was strong but just the right warmth that felt delicious after coming in from the cold. His costume was soft and comfortable. The bow was strangely shaped, yes, but he felt almost nostalgic holding it. And most of all was the feeling of floating, of freedom and liveliness filling him up as the transformation came to a close, crescendoing as he closed his eyes to let it wash over him.

He opened his eyes to the view out the window of the apartment, standing in the same place as before, but in the green costume. The free feeling slowly faded, but didn’t go away entirely, which was a comfort. Gavin was tempted to ride the feeling out a little more literally, to leap out the window and let the wind carry him around the city, but that was a bit too risky still. Instead he touched the peridot pinned to his shirt, running his fingers over the golden L embossed on it and feeling warmth emanating from it.

Whatever had given them this power, it had to be good. He could feel it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
